* The Department of Justice is looking into campaign donations to Rep. Jim Renacci (R-Ohio) and Ohio Senate candidate Josh Mandel from employees of Suarez Corporation Industries, a direct-marketing firm. The Toledo Blade reported last year that employees of the firm and their spouses, many of whom had never donated to campaigns before, gave tens of thousands of dollars to the two candidates.

* Roman Catholic schools and groups in eight states and the District of Columbia sued the Obama administration over the federal mandate that most employers provide employees with free birth control under health insurance. The University of Notre Dame, the Archdioceses of Washington and New York, the Michigan Catholic Conference and the Catholic University of America are among those taking part in the biggest challenge yet to the mandate.

* Sen. Dick Lugar (R-Ind.) is apparently still bitter about his May 8 primary loss to state Treasurer Richard Mourdock. Asked at an Armed Forces Day ceremony if he saw a lack of cooperation among Americans these days, he responded, “Yes, and some Americans who will remain nameless really extol the virtues of no cooperation. It’s really my way or the highway.”

* Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) endorsed Rep. Chris Murphy for Connecticut’s open Senate seat, another blow to Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz’s primary campaign. On the GOP side, former Rep. Chris Shays (R) officially filed to run. He faces Linda McMahon in the primary; he lost the Republican state convention's endorsement to the former WWE executive this weekend.

WHAT YOU SHOULDN’T MISS:

* Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), running for governor, has chosen freshman state Rep. Sue Ellspermann as his running mate. She is the founding director of the Center for Applied Research at the University of Southern Indiana and would be the state’s third female lieutenant governor.

* Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) is out with a new ad aimed at veterans. The spot highlights his relationship with Marine Lance Cpl. Thomas “Tomy” Parker, a disabled Afghanistan veteran. Democrats in Indiana are also coming out with a radio ad this week targeting state Treasurer Richard Mourdock, the GOP Senate nominee.

* Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) is officially running for reelection in 2014. “If you have led a productive life, you have to wonder if it's worth your time being here,” the first-term senator said. But he has “become more optimistic than I have been in a long time that we will rise up and deal with our nation's problems.”

* Texas Gov. Rick Perry is starring in an ad for Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, a candidate in the state’s competitive May 29 Senate primary. “David’s the one candidate best prepared to make conservative change happen in Washington,” Perry says in the ad. “Don’t let anyone tell you differently. Our country needs him and so does Texas.”

* Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney is planning to raise $10 million on a three-day fundaising swing through New York City and Connecticut. Romney also spoke to expat donors in Hong Kong and Singapore via Skype.

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